Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware
You probably have become accustomed to the looks of the Kingston HyperX Cloud, and while today's Cloud Revolver is quite the departure from the original, there are elements the HyperX team have kept, as you will see in our physical inspection. A look at the headset, and I can say the Cloud Revolver definitely looks more gamer-like. With its black colors and red accenting throughout, it feels less likely to be used on-the-go, and more so only seen at LAN parties. Unfortunately, this means gone is the soft-touch rubber, and replaced with it are some hard plastic, and even some glossy plastic. It is surprising to me how many manufacturers think glossy is gaming, because to me, the matte finish is way more practical and possibly preferred for a clean look. The outer side of the ear cups have a sun-like pattern, with a red beam pattern and the HyperX logo inside. The entire product is held together with two upper bands, including a suspended cushioned area, and a large metal frame. The metal feels rigid and keeps the Cloud Revolver feeling sturdy. Overall appearances are okay to me, but I am a little sad Kingston has moved away from their more neutral stance on designing peripherals. I really liked the HyperX Cloud and Cloud II, because they were capable of being shown in public due to its conservative aesthetics. However, this is not something I could necessarily say about the Cloud Revolver, but this is more of my opinion. Build quality for the Revolver is fine, and compared to any of its competition it is great. Despite the plastic parts seen around the ear cups, it feels sturdy. However, because we have seen what HyperX is able to deliver, albeit with a partner, there are a few lacking aspects in the headband, which I will explain later in the review.
Starting from the bottom, we have a single four-pole 3.5mm gold-plated audio plug. Users can take the HyperX Cloud Revolver out of the box, and plug it into most portable electronic devices like tablets or phones without needing any additional adapters. As well, this allows the headset to be plugged into gaming controllers found on the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. The plug is wrapped in a smooth black rubber end and is easy to grip, making unplugging the audio jacks very easy. A HyperX logo is found here too, which I quite like. The cable holding it in place is 1m in length, and braided for better durability. As this is intended to be used with the provided extension remote, this kind of length is expected. The cable is permanently attached to the Cloud Revolver, just like all of the other Clouds.
On to the ears, we get to the black leather-like padded ear pads. Thankfully, one thing Kingston did keep is the memory foam. Thus we have very plushy ears and it feels like a cushion. Unfortunately, there are no additional ear cups with the Kingston HyperX Cloud Revolver, but it is quite easy to remove the installed ones out. This involves popping out the foam and the frame holding it all together. The ear cups are oval in shape, and fits more closely to human ears. Fit will vary between users, but I can say these ear pads cover the ear fully, just as I would expect from any over-the-ear headset. Underneath this area are the 50mm drivers, with a rated frequency response of 12Hz to 28KHz. While humans can generally only hear from 20Hz to 20KHz or less, we can often still feel the effects of the out of the audible lower and higher frequencies. We will see how this actually affects the sound quality in our audio analysis. Rated impedance of this unit is 30 ohms.
The ears themselves are quite flexible, as they are held on a pivot point-like structure, attached to the headband. This allows for smaller adjustment in the angles of the ears to your head, which make for a better seal. This area, as aforementioned, is completely plastic, and features a few venting holes on the back. Presumably, this is for performance reasons, as a less closed-back design generally gets better soundstaging. We will see how this affects the headset on the next page.
Moving on up, we have the headband holding the entire headset together. As you can see, Kingston has taken a page out of their past, and combined it with a SteelSeries-like headband. Thus we have a huge leatherette plushy band with memory foam inside, suspended and self-adjusting to the user's head. There is some red threading, similar to the previous generations of Clouds, but due to the way they are stitched, the edges do not feel as refined. The previous Kingston HyperX Cloud had a rounded out stitching pattern to ensure a nice feel. Unfortunately, the HyperX Cloud Revolver have sharper edges, and it does not feel as good on the hands. The metal headband at the top is made out of steel, and feels very sturdy. However, one thing I noticed was a metal resonating sound every time I adjusted the headset. This is because the steel was vibrating when it was moved. It can get annoying to some users, but this only appears during adjustment and/or constant movement. When used with audio and placed on your head, you will not normally hear the metal resonance.
The Kingston HyperX Cloud Revolver did not specify an amount of force applied, but I can say it feels similar to the original Cloud. It strikes the right balance of pressure placed on the head. Even though I have not always favored the suspended design, I think HyperX has nailed it with the Cloud Revolver. Even with a head as big as mine, the memory foam in the headband and the ear cups ensure the comfort level is over nine thousand! Jokes aside, I am really happy in this regard, because the HyperX Cloud lineup has always been a comfortable gaming headset lineup, and the Revolver is no different. The product weighs in at a slightly heavier 360g, but the extra ten grams do not change the overall comfort.
As alluded to in the first page, there are only two extra things we can speak of, and this is the detachable microphone and the extension remote. Looking at the microphone, we have a different design from the original Cloud, but it keeps a lot of the features I like. This includes the very flexible neck holding the microphone. It might look like plastic, but it is actually a rubber gooseneck, and it flexes nicely. I will say it is not as flexible to hold more "extreme" or bent angles, but it is definitely capable of keeping its shape. In addition, this new rubber sleeve around the neck looks a lot cleaner than the original. At the end is the unidirectional microphone, where we can queue all the One Direction jokes. However, I am sure it is a Payne to hear, and they are just "History" now. Before these jokes drag me down, microphone preference will vary from user to user. I personally like a single direction microphone, because it reduces the amount of background noise picked up. You may also notice the lack of a windscreen. A closer look at the microphone head reveals a small windscreen built into the detachable microphone. Otherwise, we have a frequency response of 50Hz to 18KHz.
The Audio Cable Box, as Kingston refers to it, serves a few purposes. For one, it extends the length of the cable by an extra two meters. This extension part is braided too. Secondly, it splits the single four-pole 3.5mm audio jack into two three-pole jacks for use with computers. The Y-split is located near the end of the cable. Each plug is marked at the rubber with the purpose of the connection, whether it is for the microphone or the audio out. The plugs are also marked in pink and green bands to ensure users can see the difference. Thirdly, the Audio Cable Box acts as a remote. It allows for quick adjustment of volume using a wheel on the side of the remote. Users can also mute their microphone with a plastic slider. You will know it is muted when a red band is displayed. On the back of this remote is a plastic clip, so the box does not dangle about when you are playing games.
Overall, the HyperX Cloud Revolver is quite the departure from the original HyperX Cloud. With a different design language, we can see where Kingston has put their fingerprints. However, the same comfort is here to stay, which is excellent to see and feel. But with all these external differences, what are the internal changes the HyperX division implemented into this headset? I guess we will see when we try the Cloud Revolver on, putting it to real tests.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
